JP2587111Y2 - Connector device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector device used for wiring a car, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional connector devices of this type include:
For example, FIG. 1 described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 1-1107883.
One is shown in FIG.

This connector device is configured by combining a female connector 5 in which a male terminal 3 is accommodated in a female housing 1 and a male connector 11 in which a female terminal 9 is accommodated in a male housing 7. I have. The female terminal 9 is a locking projection 1 of a housing lance 13 provided in the male housing 7.
3A is engaged with the locking window 9A of the female terminal 9 and is supported by the male housing 7. In the male housing 7,
When the female terminal 9 is inserted, the locking protrusion 1 of the housing lance 13 is inserted.
Since the housing lance 13 has to be deflected by pushing down 3A, a bending space 15 is formed along the housing lance 13. On the other hand, the female housing 1 has a wedge body 17 which is inserted into the bending space 15 of the male housing 7 and pushes up the housing lance 13 so that the locking projection 13A presses the back surface of the elastic contact piece 9C of the female terminal 9. Is provided.

[0004] Such a male connector 5 and a female connector 11
This means that the male terminal 3 is inserted into the fitting portion 9B of the female terminal 9 and the male terminal 3 is brought into contact with the elastic contact piece 9C provided in the fitting portion 9B in a cantilever manner, thereby providing electrical connection. A connection has been made. In this case, when the wedge body 17 of the female housing 1 is inserted into the bending space 15 of the male housing 7 and the housing lance 13 is pushed up, the elastic contact piece 9C is formed.
Are pushed up by the locking projections 13A of the housing lance 13 and pressed against the male terminals 3 to apply a contact pressure, thereby forming a so-called double locking structure.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional connector device, a wedge member 17 for pushing up a housing lance 13 in the male housing 7 is provided on the female housing 1 side. Since the insertion force increases during the insertion of the wedge body 17 into the bending space 15 of the male housing 7, the connector insertion force increases, and the workability may be impaired.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector device capable of reducing insertion force while having a double locking structure.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a female terminal is accommodated in a housing, and the female terminal is engaged with a flexible terminal locking arm provided in the housing. A first connector in which a locking projection is supported by being engaged with a locking window of the female terminal, and a first connector provided with a bending space in the housing for bending the terminal locking arm when the female terminal is inserted; A connector device comprising a second connector in which a male terminal is housed, and electrically connecting the male terminal and the female terminal in a completely fitted state of the first connector and the second connector, In the free state, the electric connection portion of the female terminal is provided with an elastic contact piece that does not contact or slightly contacts the male terminal in a free state, and a part of the elastic contact piece has a direction in which the elastic contact piece contacts the male terminal. Contact pressure protrusion protruding in the opposite direction A terminal locking arm in the housing of the first connector, a tip end having a pressing projection projecting into the bending space opposite to the contact pressure projection, and provided to the housing of the first connector. A retainer having an arm-under insertion part which enters the bending space by completely inserting the pressing part to press the pressing projection, and completes the contact of the elastic contact piece with the male terminal via the contacting projection,
The first connector is provided with a retainer stop which engages with the retainer to position the retainer at an assembly position of the housing of the first connector, and the second connector is completely fitted with the first connector. An unlocking pin is provided which releases the engagement between the retainer stopper and the first connector in a state and allows the first connector to be completely inserted into the housing.

[0008]

When the connector is fitted, the retainer is not completely inserted at first, so the elastic contact piece of the female terminal and the male terminal do not contact or are in slight contact even if they do contact. it can.

In this case, the retainer is positioned at the assembly position by the retainer stop, and cannot be inserted from this position, so that the pressing projection of the terminal locking arm is not pressed. Therefore, the male terminal can be fitted to the female terminal with low fitting force. When the first connector and the second connector are completely fitted, the retainer can be completely inserted by releasing the engagement between the retainer and the first connector by the lock release pin. When the retainer is completely inserted, the pressing projection of the terminal locking arm is pressed, and the elastic contact piece comes into contact with the male terminal via the contacting projection to complete electrical contact.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a connector device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this connector device, a female connector 25 in which a male terminal 23 is accommodated in a female housing 21, a male connector 31 in which a female terminal 29 is accommodated in a male housing 27, and a retainer 33 are combined. It is configured.

The female terminal 29 is provided with a locking projection 3 of a flexible terminal locking arm 35 provided in the male housing 27.
5A is supported in the male housing 27 by being engaged with the locking window 29A of the female terminal 29. In the male housing 27, a bending space 30 for bending the terminal locking arm 35 when the female terminal 29 is inserted is provided. The female terminal 29 is connected to the lead wire 3 as shown in FIGS.
7 and a fitting portion 29C for fitting the male terminal 23, and an elastic contact piece 39 is provided in the fitting portion 29C.
Is provided with cantilever support. A contact pressure projection 39A is formed on the elastic contact piece 39, and the contact pressure projection 39A protrudes toward the terminal locking arm 35 through the through window 29D of the female terminal 29.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the distal end portion 3 of the resilient contact piece 39 of the terminal locking arm 35 opposed to the contact pressure projection 39A
6, a pressing projection 35B protruding into the bending space 30 is provided.
Is provided.

In the male housing 27, a retainer insertion space 41 integrated with the bending space 30 is provided along the terminal locking arm 35.

On the upper surface of the male housing 27, a pair of retainer insertion grooves 43 are provided on both sides of the flexible lock arm 59 as shown in FIGS. A retainer stopper 45 for temporarily locking the insertion of the retainer 33 into the retainer insertion groove 43.
Is provided. The retainer stopper 45 is formed to be approximately half the width of the insertion groove 43. Note that the flexible lock arm 59 includes a locking projection 47 and an operation portion 59a.

The female housing 21 is assembled to the male housing 27 by engaging the locking projections 47 of the male housing 27 with the locking windows 49 of the female housing 21 as shown in FIGS. Can be

The female housing 21 has a male housing 27
A pair of lock release pins 51 which are inserted into the retainer insertion groove 43 to release the lock of the retainer 33 by the retainer stopper 45 are provided. The lock release pin 51 is formed to be approximately half the width of the retainer insertion groove 43, and is configured to enter the retainer insertion groove 43 from the end of the male housing 27 adjacent to the retainer stopper 45.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the retainer 33 is provided with the retainer insertion space 41 and the bending space 30 of the male housing 27.
Is inserted into the retainer insertion groove 43 of the male housing 27 and the leading end thereof is inserted into the through hole 55 of the female housing 21. And a cover portion 6 for covering the operation portion 59a of the flexible lock arm 59 of the male housing 27.
And 1.

The retainer 33 has a pair of right and left engaging claws 6.
3 is engaged with the locking claw 65 of the male housing 27 to position the male housing 27.

Next, the female connector 25 of the above embodiment is
The assembly and operation of the male connector 31 and the retainer 33 will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
7, the lower arm insertion portion 53 of the retainer 33 is inserted into the retainer insertion space 41, and the lock insertion portion 57 of the retainer 33 is inserted into the retainer insertion groove 43 of the male housing 27 (the state of FIG. 9).

In this state, the retainer 33 is pushed in the direction of arrow a, and the lock insertion portion 57 and the arm lower insertion portion 53 are inserted until the tip of the lock insertion portion 57 is locked by the retainer stopper 45. At this time, the lower arm insertion portion 53 enters the lower side of the locking projection 35A of the terminal locking arm 35,
By supporting the terminal locking arm 35 from below, the locking projection 35A does not come off from the locking window 29A of the female terminal 29.

Next, the female housing 21 and the male housing 27 are fitted to each other, and the locking projections 47 are engaged with the locking windows 49, so that the female housing 21 and the male housing 2 are engaged.
7 is engaged and locked. At this time, the male terminal 23 is fitted into the fitting portion 29C of the female terminal 29, and the lock release pin 51 enters the lower side of the tip of the lock insertion portion 57 of the retainer 33 to push up the lock insertion portion 57, thereby locking the lock. The distal end of the insertion portion 57 is lifted above the retainer stopper 45 (the state of FIG. 10).

In this state, the retainer 33 is further moved by the arrow a.
When it is pushed in the direction, the lock insertion portion 57 is inserted over the retainer stopper 45, and its tip is inserted into the through hole 55 of the female housing 21, and the lower arm insertion portion 53 is used to press the terminal locking arm 35. The projection 35B enters the lower side of the projection 35B, and the pressing projection 35B is pushed up to push up the contact pressure projection 39A, whereby the contact of the elastic contact piece 39 with the male terminal 23 is completed as shown in FIG. The retainer 33 is configured such that the engagement portion 61 has the flexible lock arm 59.
And the engaging claw 63 is engaged with the locking claw 65.
Is engaged.

Accordingly, the male terminal 23 is strongly clamped by the female terminal 29, and the housings 21 and 27 are also firmly fixed to each other, so that the external terminals and vibrations are applied.
It is possible to prevent a change in the contact state between the contact portions 29 and sliding abrasion of the contact portion.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the configuration of the present invention, the female terminal is double-locked, but the contact of the terminal is completed by the retainer after the connection, so that the insertion force is reduced. As a result, the workability is remarkably improved, and poor contact between the male terminal and the female terminal can be prevented. In addition, since the retainer stopper is provided, the retainer can be positioned at the mounting position of the first connector,
In this state, the elastic contact piece is not inadvertently pressed. Further, when the first and second connectors are completely fitted with each other, the engagement state between the retainer and the first connector is released by the lock release pin, and the retainer can be completely inserted into the bending space, The fitting state between the first and second connectors can be detected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a connector device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the female terminal of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of the connector device according to the embodiment of the present invention before connection, and FIGS. 4A and 4B show states in different directions.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a male connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a female connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a retainer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view of the connector device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the connector device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory view of the connector device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a connector device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Female housing 23 Male terminal 25 Female connector 27 Male housing 29 Female terminal 29A Locking window 36 Tip part 29C Fitting part 31 Male connector 33 Retainer 35 Terminal locking arm 35A Locking projection 35B Pressing projection 39 Elastic contact piece 39A Protrusion for contact pressure

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A female terminal is housed in a housing, and the female terminal engages a locking projection of a flexible terminal locking arm provided in the housing with a locking window of the female terminal. A first connector provided with a bending space for bending the terminal locking arm when the female terminal is inserted in the housing, and a second connector in which the male terminal is housed in the housing; Complete fitting of the first connector and the second connector
Said female terminal and the male terminal while a connector device for electrically connecting said resilient contact piece which contacts slightly or not in contact with the male terminal is provided in a free state to the electrical connection portion of the female terminal, said elastic contact A contact pressure protrusion protruding in a direction opposite to a direction in which the elastic contact piece is brought into contact with the male terminal is provided on a part of the piece, a terminal locking arm in a housing of the first connector,
Providing a distal end portion having a pressing protrusion that protrudes into the bending space opposite to the contact pressure protrusion, enters the bending space by completely inserting the first connector into the housing, and pushes the pressing protrusion. A retainer having an insertion portion under the arm that presses and completes the contact of the elastic contact piece with the male terminal via the protrusion for contact pressure is provided , and the first connector is engaged with the retainer to engage the retainer.
Position the connector at the position where the first connector housing is assembled.
Providing a retainer stopper that completely fits the second connector with the first connector.
Engagement of the retainer stop with the first connector in a state
And completely insert the first connector into the housing.
A connector device comprising a lock release pin which enables the lock .